SQL Server: Column with 100 rows organized by repeating A-Z? - sql

Question

I am looking to create a table that has 100 rows, and the first column is organized by the letters A-Z, and repeats all the way to 100. The closest I have come is either:
having a numeric column that then uses the ASCII values to convert the number to the letter, however this involves creating the numeric column first, and then having the alphabet column dependent on this one, or
I have been able to create a single column, however when I try to print the whole table, it shows up as AAAA, BBBB, CCCC, DDDD, etc.
I need the column to be completely independent which is why solution #1 doesn't work, and I can't find a way to properly sort or organize solution #2 for it to be A, B, C instead of the way it is printing now. Screenshots for context:
Solution 1
Solution 2
I have been using this code to create the table:
SELECT n
FROM (VALUES (0),(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9)) t(n)
)
SELECT n1.n + n10.n * 10 as col
INTO dbo.table1
FROM nums n1
CROSS JOIN nums n10;
Then for solution 1, I tried this:
ALTER TABLE numbers
ADD letters AS CHAR(num % 26 + 65);
SELECT * FROM numbers
ORDER BY num;
and for solution 2, this:
ALTER TABLE table1
ALTER COLUMN col VARCHAR(3);
UPDATE table1
SET col = col % 26 + 65;
UPDATE table1
SET col = CHAR(col);
SELECT * FROM table1
ORDER BY col;
I have been at this for a few hours now, trying different things in both solutions to get the answer.
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

If you want to repeatedly cycle through generating letters, you can use a recursive CTE:
with cte as (
select convert(varchar(max), 'A') as letter, 1 as n
union all
select (case when letter < 'Z' then convert(varchar(max), char(ascii(letter) + 1)) else 'A' end),
n + 1
from cte
where n < 100
)
select letter
from cte;
You can use insert or select into to put the values in a table.
If you want more than 100 rows, you'll need to add option (maxrecursion 0).

Answer 2

There is no certain order of rows in a table. Even if the table has a clustered index specified. Such a concept does not exist in relational databases.
To ensure a specific order of values you need to force it using ORDER BY clause in a SELECT statement.
Considering that, the following code must give you an idea how to implement your solution:
With nums as (
SELECT n
FROM (VALUES (0),(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9)) t(n)
),
numbers as (
SELECT n1.n + n10.n * 10 as num
FROM nums n1
CROSS JOIN nums n10
)
select num, char(num/26 + 65) + CHAR(num % 26 + 65)
from numbers
order by num